


Champagne Dreaming

by captainflintsjacket



Category: Marvel
Genre: F/M, Minor Violence, minor car crash, reader and the no good horrible very bad day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 18:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20440274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainflintsjacket/pseuds/captainflintsjacket
Summary: Based loosely on the prompt Character A and Character B have to save Christmas





	Champagne Dreaming

Working for Stark Industries was a dream come true. More than that - it was a privilege. It’s an absolute privilege to work for Mr. Stark and fetch his dry cleaning and his coffee and his lunch and keep his schedule and

“And it’s a privilege,” you hissed at yourself, hitting your palm against the steering wheel in frustration. “It’s a privilege to be sitting here in traffic on Christmas Eve.” You leaned back in your seat with a sigh, stretching your spine as best you could in your small car.

It wasn’t all bad, if you were being honest. It wasn’t even mostly bad. Tony Stark didn’t let many people into his inner circle. Still, it would have been nice to spend Christmas Eve curled up with a book in your loft at Stark Tower instead of stuck in your car with three crates of champagne.

This was the latest in a string of “emergencies” Mr. Stark had leading up to the holiday season. The first was buying gifts for the Avengers team. Then, he’d asked you to stay at the Tower for Christmas to help organize the decorating team then the holiday party then your phone went off at 5 in the morning.

By now you were used to Mr. Stark waking you up at ungodly hours, but you’d been hoping he might make an exception on Christmas Eve. You toyed with the idea of ignoring it, already feeling the pull of sleep when your phone buzzed again.

Emergency down in the lab. 5:08 a.m.

Did I mention it was an emergency? 5:09 a.m.

You shot out of bed, telling FRIDAY to call the elevator. The only sounds in the hall were your bare feet hitting the floor and the creaking of the elevator doors. You slid inside, jamming the button for the lab and inputting your security clearance. The elevator whirred to life and you wrung your hands, not sure if it would be better to ask what to expect or go in blind. Before you made up your mind, the doors to the lab were opening.

“Mr. Stark,” you called, not seeing him or his emergency.

He popped his head out from his office before rushing back in. You heard him laugh, followed by a brief crashing of metal against the concrete floors. He emerged again, leaning against the doorframe, not even trying to hide the smile on his face. “It’s about time. Nice pajamas. Are those dogs wearing Santa hats?”

“Yes,” you said, crossing your arms in a feeble attempt to cover the holiday dachshund print. “You said it was an emergency. I didn’t think I had time to change.”

“Right. Emergency,” Mr. Stark said, pushing off the door frame and walking towards you. “I forgot to order champagne for the party tonight, so I need you to get some.” He fished through his wallet before handing you a bank card.

“You said it was an emergency,” you dead-panned, staring at the card in your hand.

“It is. What kind of Christmas party would it be without champagne?” Mr. Stark headed back for the office, sending you another glance. “You might want to change first. It’s cold outside.”

You could’ve slapped the grin right off his face but chose to keep your cool (and your job), and headed back up to your room. You spent the next few hours searching the Internet and making calls to find a store that was actually open and had enough champagne. As luck would have it, you found a store an hour away, so you threw on some clothes and begged them to hold the champagne for you.

Now, you couldn’t help but wonder if it would’ve just been easier to tell Mr. Stark you couldn’t find any. The party was due to start in a few hours and traffic had barely moved an inch. You genuinely considered ditching the car and calling someone to help you haul the crates when your car jerked forward.

The sound of crunching metal broke your train of thought as your whole body snapped towards the windshield. Your eyes shot to the rear view mirror, locking eyes with the driver behind you. In a similar situation, Dr. Banner would probably be seeing green right now, but you only saw red as you got out of the car.

The man behind you was sending a stream of curses your way, but you hardly payed attention. Your brain was focused on one thing: connecting your fist to his face. With a satisfying crack, the man fell backwards onto the hood of his car, cradling his jaw. He looked up at you, stunned.

“Merry fucking Christmas,” you spat. Before you could turn around, a pair of police lights flashed on not two cars away. You watched an officer get out of the car and approach you. God, you were so gonna get fired.

You were still trying to decide who to call when who else but Mr. Stark himself showed up in front of the holding cell. You stood with your arms crossed, hoping that if you looked confident maybe you could keep yourself from crying.

“Come here often,” Mr. Stark joked.

“It’s my winter home.”

Mr. Stark nodded. “Mm, remind me to give you a raise. It looks like you could use some new furniture.”

“Go to hell,” you snapped before you could stop yourself. You slapped your hands over mouth in horror. “I’m so sorry Mr. Stark. I-” He held a hand up to stop you.

“I’ll send you a postcard, and how many times do I have to tell you to call me Tony? Mr. Stark makes me feel old. So tell me, how did this,” he said, gesturing at the cell, “happen?”

You pressed your forehead against the cool bars in an attempt to hide the blush creeping up your face. “I may have briefly gotten swept up in some road rage and punched someone.”

“Told you self defense classes would come in handy.”

“As much as I appreciate your sense of humor, Mr. Stark-”

“Tony,” he interrupted.

“Tony,” you sighed. “How did you know I was here? You should be getting ready for the party.”

“Oh, I was. Then, I got an interesting call from the police station saying a woman had stolen my credit card, bought a ton of champagne, and started attacking people in the street.”

You groaned. “You told them I didn’t steal your card, right?”

“I told them I’ve never seen you in my life.” Tony’s usual poker face cracked into a smile as your eyes shot up to him. His laugh echoed through the holding cell.

“You’re so lucky there are bars between us right now.”

“Did you hear that, officer,” Tony asked, turning to the cop standing behind him. “I think she’s threatening me. Maybe we should extend her stay.”

“Tony,” you warned, exasperation clear in your voice.

“All right, all right. Come on. Can’t have a party without the guest of honor.” Tony stepped aside so the officer could unlock the cell.

“Guest of honor?”

“Yeah, me. Did you think I meant you? Because that would be embarrassing.” You rolled your eyes, not missing the teasing note in Tony’s voice as he led you out of the precinct to the car parked out front. You nodded awkwardly at Happy, who held the door for you as you clambered in. A black garment bag hung from a handle in the backseat.

“That’s for you, by the way. An early Christmas present,” Tony said, sliding into the seat next to you. “Well, that and bailing you out of jail.”

“Thank you, Tony, but you really didn’t have to.”

“Yeah, well, I needed the champagne so I figured I’d get you too.” He shrugged, smile still firmly on his face. “Go ahead and put it on.”

“Here?”

“Yeah. Party’s already starting so you should be dressed when we get there. Happy?” Happy pressed a button and an opaque partition slid up, hiding you from his view but not Tony’s. You stared at him expectantly, but he only smiled back at you, eager to see how the dress looked. “Is there a problem?”

“Are you gonna watch?”

“I bailed you out of jail, and I don’t get a show?” You felt your cheeks heat up again but couldn’t come up with a witty response. “Fine. Nothing I haven’t seen in my dreams anyway.” He gave you a wink before turning in his seat and slipping his sunglasses back on.

You went back to unzipping the garment bag, freezing when your brain finally processed what Tony said. No. There was no way you heard him right, you thought, biting your bottom lip. You shook your head, trying to get a grip as you finally slipped the dress out of the bag.

Say what you will about Tony Stark, the man had good taste. The dress was absolutely breathtaking: deep red silk with a sweetheart neckline and sleeves made from nude netting laced with crystals. It sparkled even in the dim lighting of the car. The skirt fell out of the bag in waves, and you sucked in a breath, wondering how the hell you were supposed to get this on.

Somehow you managed to change clothes and only accidentally hit Tony twice. By the time it was on and Tony helped you zip it up, you were almost as red as the dress.

“There are shoes under the seat. Do you want me to turn around while you put those on, too?”

“Shut up,” you smiled, reaching forward for the box.

“Ouch. That hurts. Is that really any way to treat the man who bailed you out?”

You pinched your eyes shut and groaned. “You’re really not gonna let me live this down are you?”

“You might be able to convince me. On one condition.”

“God, anything,” you said as you pulled the heels on. Tony didn’t respond right away, and you looked up at him. His normal smile was gone, replaced by something softer, something more intimate. A smile just for you.

“Be my date tonight.” You searched for any hint he was joking.

“Yeah, okay,” you said. 

“Yeah, okay,” Tony said, doing his best imitation of you. “Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your spot?”

You shrugged as Happy opened the door for you, milking the last few shreds of confidence you had. “So invite them.”

Tony stepped out of the car behind you, wrapping an arm around your waist. “I bailed you out of jail.”

“I thought you said you’d let that go if I was your date.”

“I said I might be convinced to let it go, but frankly I’m not convinced yet.”

“And what will it take to convince you, Mr. Stark,” you smiled innocently, straightening his lapel. You ran your hands down his chest, relishing the feel of his muscles tensing under your touch.

Tony sucked in a breath. “Say my name like that after I have a few glasses of champagne, and I think that’ll do the trick.” You stifled a laugh as Tony pulled the door open for you. He slipped his arm around your waist again, and for the first time today, you finally felt the tension leave your body.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr @trade-baby-blues


End file.
